A. Rodda

2025 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay | Whitlands, VIC | 95 Points

Name: 2025 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay | Whitlands, VIC | 95 Points
Brand: A. Rodda
Price: 53.00 AUD
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$53.00 AUD

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🏆 95 Points | One of Australia's Great Alpine Chardonnays – From 600 Metres Above Sea Level!

95 Points – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

The Chardonnay Specialist Behind Oakridge 864 Delivers Another Extraordinary High-Altitude Wine!

2025 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay

Whitlands, King Valley, Victoria

RRP $53

What happens when one of Australia's most accomplished Chardonnay winemakers gets his hands on exceptional fruit from a vineyard sitting 600 metres above sea level in the mountains of northeast Victoria?

You get one hell of a Chardonnay!

And that's exactly what we have here with the 2025 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay.

This is a seriously exciting wine.

From one of Victoria's most remarkable high-altitude Chardonnay districts comes a wine of beautiful citrus purity, fine texture, extraordinary natural acidity and that wonderful flinty mineral character that makes great cool-climate Chardonnay so compelling.

And look at the score!

95 POINTS – GARY WALSH, THE WINE FRONT!

But here's what makes this wine particularly fascinating.

The vineyard is perched high on the Whitlands plateau.

Approximately 600 metres above sea level.

The vines grow in volcanic soils over ancient rhyolite.

And the man making the wine?

Adrian Rodda.

The winemaker who spent years working alongside David Bicknell at Oakridge, helping develop the extraordinary Oakridge 864 Chardonnay.

And at an RRP of just $53, this is a wine that deserves serious attention.

This is exactly the sort of Chardonnay we get excited about at Liquid Vibe!

A. Rodda – One of Australia's Great Chardonnay Specialists

Adrian Rodda has established himself as one of Australia's most respected Chardonnay specialists.

And his story is fascinating.

Before establishing his own label, Adrian spent many years working with David Bicknell at Oakridge in the Yarra Valley.

During that period, he helped develop the celebrated Oakridge 864 Chardonnay, a wine that became one of the benchmarks for modern Australian Chardonnay.

The philosophy was straightforward.

Exceptional vineyard sites.

Beautiful fruit purity.

Precise acidity.

Thoughtful oak integration.

And wines that express their individual origins.

In 2010, Adrian and his wife Christie moved to Beechworth, where he began producing Chardonnay from the historic Smiths Vineyard.

He subsequently developed a remarkable collection of single-vineyard Chardonnays from three distinct Victorian districts.

Smiths Vineyard – Beechworth.

Willowlake Vineyard – Yarra Valley.

Baxendale Vineyard – Whitlands, King Valley.

And here's what makes this collection so interesting.

The wines are made with a broadly consistent philosophy.

But each vineyard produces something completely different.

Different soils.

Different elevations.

Different climates.

Different expressions of Chardonnay.

That's the beauty of great single-vineyard winemaking.

Baxendale Vineyard – An Extraordinary Alpine Chardonnay Site

Here's where the story becomes particularly exciting.

The Baxendale vineyard is located on the Whitlands plateau in northeast Victoria, in the upper reaches of the King Valley.

The Chardonnay vines were planted in 1995.

And the vineyard sits approximately 600 metres above sea level.

That's seriously high for an Australian vineyard.

At this elevation, the growing season is relatively cool.

Days can provide sufficient warmth for Chardonnay to develop beautiful flavour concentration.

But the cooler nights help preserve the natural acidity that gives these wines their extraordinary freshness and precision.

The result?

Chardonnay with remarkable citrus purity.

Beautiful stone fruit.

Fine mineral tension.

And an almost electric line of acidity.

But there's another fascinating detail.

Volcanic Soils Over Rhyolite – A Remarkable Geological Story

The Whitlands vineyard is planted on volcanic soils over rhyolite.

Rhyolite is a silica-rich volcanic rock.

And the combination of volcanic-derived soils, altitude and climate creates distinctive growing conditions.

It's important to understand that mineral flavours in wine aren't simply minerals being transferred directly from rocks into grapes.

But geology can influence soil structure, drainage, vine vigour and water availability.

And those factors help shape the way Chardonnay grows and ripens.

What I find particularly exciting about the Whitlands Chardonnay is its distinctive combination of concentration and restraint.

There's beautiful fruit.

But also extraordinary tension.

And a fine chalky, flinty character that gives the wine a wonderful sense of precision.

This is a Chardonnay that tastes like it comes from somewhere special.

Tasting Notes – Lime, White Peach, Flint and Beautiful Mineral Precision

The 2025 A. Rodda Whitlands Chardonnay is a wonderfully refined wine.

And Gary Walsh's assessment captures its personality beautifully.

The aromatics reveal:

Fresh lime and lime zest
White peach
Delicate white flowers
Subtle almond
Fine spice
Cool herbal perfume
Struck flint
Gentle savoury complexity

The palate is absolutely gorgeous.

There's beautiful citrus concentration, with lime and white peach providing freshness and flavour.

But the wine also has a lovely softness and gloss to its texture.

And then comes that remarkable Whitlands acidity.

Bright. Precise. Saline. Beautifully persistent.

A delicate flinty character adds complexity.

Fine chalky grip provides structure.

And the finish is exceptionally long.

Lime. White peach. Almond. Flint. Subtle spice. Saline freshness. Extraordinary length.

This is Chardonnay with serious personality.

Here's Something Else You Should Know – The 2023 Vintage Made Halliday's Top 100!

This is one of the most exciting details about the pedigree of this vineyard.

The 2023 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Chardonnay was selected for the Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wines of 2025.

That's an extraordinary achievement.

The wine was recognised among Australia's finest white wines over $40.

And the 2023 release also received 95 points from Halliday Wine Companion.

Now, that's the previous vintage, not the 2025 wine we're offering here.

But it demonstrates the remarkable consistency and potential of this vineyard.

When a high-altitude Chardonnay vineyard is capable of producing wines recognised among Australia's finest, you know you're dealing with something special.

And the 2025 release continues that story with another outstanding 95-point review from The Wine Front.

The Winemaking Philosophy – Precision and Vineyard Expression

Adrian Rodda's approach to Chardonnay is all about preserving the individual character of each vineyard.

He favours careful fruit selection, thoughtful fermentation and restrained oak handling.

The objective isn't to produce an obviously oaky Chardonnay.

It's to create a wine where the fruit, acidity, texture and savoury complexity work together.

His Whitlands wines are particularly fascinating because of their high-altitude freshness.

The fruit can have excellent flavour concentration, but the natural acidity gives the finished Chardonnay wonderful definition.

And that acidity is one of the reasons these wines can develop so beautifully in the cellar.

Why Whitlands Is Different from Beechworth

Here's something I think Chardonnay lovers will find fascinating.

Adrian Rodda makes Chardonnay from both Beechworth and Whitlands.

But the wines are quite different.

His Smiths Vineyard Chardonnay from Beechworth comes from a historic vineyard planted in 1978, approximately 550 metres above sea level.

The Whitlands Chardonnay comes from a vineyard planted in 1995 at approximately 600 metres.

The geology is different.

The climate is different.

And the resulting wines have different personalities.

The Beechworth wine can display wonderful concentration, savoury complexity and mineral structure.

The Whitlands Chardonnay often emphasises citrus purity, floral lift, fine texture and beautifully vibrant acidity.

Two extraordinary vineyards. One remarkable winemaker. Two fascinating expressions of Chardonnay.

And that's what makes exploring Adrian Rodda's wines so rewarding.

For Lovers of Great White Burgundy

If you love the great Chardonnays of Burgundy, particularly those with beautiful mineral precision and vibrant acidity, this wine deserves your attention.

Think about the qualities that make exceptional white Burgundy so compelling.

Beautiful fruit purity.

Fine acidity.

Subtle oak.

Savoury complexity.

And extraordinary length.

The 2025 A. Rodda Whitlands Chardonnay delivers many of those same qualities.

But it does so with its own distinctive Australian alpine character.

It's not trying to imitate Burgundy.

It's expressing Whitlands.

And that's what makes it so exciting.

Cellaring Potential

The 2025 A. Rodda Whitlands Chardonnay is already beautifully balanced.

But its fine acidity and concentrated fruit suggest it has excellent potential to develop.

Gary Walsh's suggested drinking window is 2026–2034.

I'd happily open a bottle now.

But I'd also put a few away.

As the wine matures, the youthful lime and white peach characters should develop greater savoury and nutty complexity.

And that wonderful mineral structure should continue to provide freshness and definition.

Food Pairings

This is a magnificent food wine.

I'd recommend:

Freshly shucked oysters
King George whiting
Grilled scallops
Southern rock lobster
Roast chicken with lemon and thyme
Snapper with beurre blanc
Mushroom risotto
Grilled crayfish
Comté or Gruyère

Personally, I'd love this with freshly grilled scallops, brown butter and lemon.

The combination of lime freshness, fine texture and saline minerality would be absolutely sensational.

Why We Love It at Liquid Vibe

Because this is exactly what makes Australian Chardonnay so exciting.

A remarkable high-altitude vineyard.

Vines planted in 1995.

Volcanic soils over rhyolite.

One of Australia's most accomplished Chardonnay winemakers.

A vineyard with a Halliday Top 100 pedigree.

And a 2025 release that has attracted an outstanding 95-point review.

Look at what you're getting:

2025 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay

Whitlands, King Valley, Victoria

Approximately 600 Metres Above Sea Level

Vineyard Planted 1995

Volcanic Soils Over Rhyolite

Winemaker – Adrian Rodda

95 Points – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

RRP $53

This is serious Chardonnay.

Beautifully refined.

Wonderfully textured.

Full of citrus purity and flinty mineral complexity.

And offering exceptional drinking for the money.